TV memories I’ll never see again

James / February 13th, 2014

There’s certain TV shows you remember seeing as a child, and sometimes wish to see again once more. In this day of DVD availability and internet, it seems that usually anything that ever existed can be found. But there’s rare occasions where the show seems to be lost in time, never to be seen again. Here’s some shows, off the top of my head, that I’ve never been able to find.

Turbo TeenThis was a cartoon show from the early 80′s about a guy who turns into a car. A dumb concept, but it was before Transformers, so it seemed awesome at the time. It was the earliest show I can remember watching as a child, and is the first thing I ever recorded on a VCR. I haven’t seen it since. It would be nice to revisit. I’m aware that there’s some clips on YouTube, but it would be great to see a full episode. It also had a very short run, so the whole series could fit on a small DVD set. More obscure shows have found their way on DVD, but not this one.

Insomniac with Dave Attell (Philadelphia episode)The format was simple. In this show, comedian Dave Attell explores the hot spots in cities late at night. I remember laughing really hard at the Philadelphia episode and was funny to see Dave Attell cracking jokes at all my old stomping grounds. It blows my mind that there are not one, but two “BEST OF” DVD sets, but NO Philadelphia episode! “Best of”, my ass! For shows that didn’t run too long to begin with, I don’t understand what the harm would be of just releasing ALL the episodes in one set. I’d buy it. This show was on Comedy Central and fairly well known, but somehow the one episode I want to see again can not be found anywhere.

Hey! Spring of Trivia (original Japanese name “Fountain of Trivia”)This was a game show where a bunch of really dumb experiments are put to the test. It used to make me laugh so hard, I was in pain. I’ve seen a few clips on YouTube and some full videos in Japanese, but it was funnier when it was dubbed. The show aired on Spike, so I don’t understand why it’s so impossible to find. I would love to see it again and have those precious laughs once more.

Anyone know where to find these shows?

Comments

SpeekEz71

February 13, 2014 at 9:36 am

Another one is I’m with Busey…never released on dvd. Probably because only me and like 6 other people would buy it, but still bullshit.

N3ONEUROMANCER – Yeah, I comprehended what I read. James said “I’m aware that there’s some clips on YouTube, but it would be great to see a full episode.” So I posted a link to a full episode, I don’t see the issue here…

horrorshow

February 15, 2014 at 6:22 am

The irony of N3ONEUROMANCERs comment…

n30neuromancer

February 16, 2014 at 2:37 pm

@horrorshow Irony, I don’t think that means what you think it means. Also, I’m PRETTY SURE the guy that runs his own website and the guy that posts internet videos for years and years are aware of youtube videos. Clearly, this is about the episodes being released on DVD. Thanks for playing!

My brother was really into C.O.W. boys of moo mesa. You can find episodes online but there is no official DVD release. And apparently there is a “lost episode” which is on the official episode listing on IMDB but cannot be found online or on any VHS released. Such a shame.

Bootleg dvds are probably the only way to own them for now. I loved Insomniac w/ Dave Attell, he’s freaking hilarious! It would be sweet if they released that enitre series on dvd, I bought those “best of” dvds though and they’re funny. If that’s all we were getting on it then just grab them. Unless you have your heart set on the Philly episode of course. Who knows, maybe they’ll release it one day?

One recent TV memory it seems we’ll never see again is the Bar Rescue episode “Music City Mess” as the bar owner featured shot someone before the episode aired, so the primetime airing was pulled but not the encore airing, but oddly enough it seems very few people recorded that airing and it hasn’t been found online yet. Though I did just buy a set from a guy who claims it has all the season 3 episodes including that one so here’s hoping it’s on there.

Interesting, Turbo Teen came out about a week before Transformers did. The only specific thing I remember about Turbo Teen are two things. One where he was in the shower and he turned into a car. And the other when he was a car and he took his friends to a drive-in and one of them poured cold soda on him, making him transform back. Wacky.

Was “Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs” popular in the US? I loved that show as a kid and when the internet came around learned that I wasn’t the only on. The rights were kind of scrambled around so it wasn’t available on DVD but a few years ago they started relseasing all the episodes finaly.

Yeah there was one TBS always showed as filler mid 2000’s early in the am under Interstitial Programming, it was a cops spoof called Blotter!, I used to love watching it but they took it off an I think I have the only footage of it available on the net/anywhere

I remember a tv show I think it was called Dog House. It was about this guy who gets soul transferred to his Saint Bernard. Then the Saint Bernard moves in with his brother’s ex wife and kids. And he would talk to the kids and the mother. And he would say something like Fifi the poodle two doors down, Woof.(good woof). I also remember Turbo Teen.

This got me thinking that I would love to see Biker Mice from Mars cartoon on dvd.. the original series, not that new one from 2006.. Yeah I know you can find some scattered episodes online but I want the full series on dvd.. im hoping Shout Factory will release it someday

I loved Insomniac with Dave Attell and own both Best Ofs. I agree, I’d love to get the rest of the episodes on DVD.

I also wish they’d release a DVD of Jonny Zero. It was on Fox on Fridays in the mid 2000’s and ran for 8 of 13 episodes before they cancelled it due to poor ratings. Fox, in their infinite wisdom, aired episodes out of order which included a guy being killed only to return an episode or two later alive and well. I believe Australia got the rest of the episodes.

Oh and Head of the Class. I watched that a ton in syndication at my babysitters.

Ahhh yes, up until recently an obscure superheroine cartoon called Enigma has been appearing on Youtube. That is one of those cases where I knew a cartoon existed but couldn’t prove it… until that happened.

Insomniac was awesome! One of my favorite shows was of Dave getting drunk, and then going hunting for giant river rats in New Orleans with police. I also saw Dave Attell live at the Improv Comedy club in Addison, TX around the time that his show was still on the air. He was funny as shit!

One of those legendary shows was Captain Power and the Soldiers of The Future. I think this was shortly after the “terminator,” craze of the late 1980’s. I vaguely remember having a series of action figures as well for this show. Well if anybody knows this one, kudos to you.

Capitol Critters is probably my favorite “lost show”. It aired in the early 90s and was one of several attempts to re-create the popularity of the Simpsons, and was aired alongside other animated programs like Fish Police and Family Dog. In fact, the Simpsons even referenced all three in the opening of one of the early Treehouse of Horror eps on tombstones in a cemetery.

All three were cancelled very early on, and Capitol Critters didn’t even get to finish airing all of its 13 episodes. It was picked up for a short run on Cartoon Network around the mid-90s, with the unaired eps getting shown for the first time, before it vanished again, this time for good. No video or DVD releases have ever happened, but most if not all of the eps are on YouTube, I think, taken from the very brief TV airings.

A young Neil Patrick Harris straight off the set of Doogie Howser, M.D. voices the main character, Max. It’s one of those half-preachy shows that I suspect was made to fulfill a network mandate for a certain number of hours of “public service” broadcasting (think “Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue”), but it’s actually really funny and kinda lewd. Shame it got lost to time.

james, there was this RC racing toy brand that took america by storm in the late 80s or so. i forget the name but you could change out the motor and the body and so on. they came on the scene just as micro machines were taking off. does anybody know what they were called? there was actually a tv show dedicated to them. i just can’t remember.

for me it would have the be the video game show X-Play, which while there are sporadic clips and episodes of on youtube, I know there’s probably hundreds more which are probably gone forever, which kills me, I’d do anything to be able to see every episode from the time period of about 2003 to 2007, when the show was at it’s best

I know what that’s like, James. I’ve had that happen with old TV shows, old games, old toys, old books. You can’t find them, or if you can, there’s very little information on them seemingly no fanbase, or a very small, hard-to-find one. I can’t do much to help you, but I hope you succeed in your quest to find back these old shows.

I am surprised to hear about Insomniac with Dave Attell. I used to enjoy watching that from time to time on Comedy Central. And yeah, it was pretty known, so it’s surprising that there hasn’t been a full DVD set released.

Hi guys. I think this question to both Mike and James.
I need help finding an animated show from the 80s. I think it was manga and was about these heroes which saved the galaxy. I can remember that these guys were named like James Bond, 001, 002 and so on… I actually think the main hero was 008, not for sure though

I watched i in vas in the end of the 80s in sweden so it can’t be that unknown.
If anyone knows these 80s cartoons its you guys, I think. It may have been a tv-show or a series of movies.

Appreciate the help.

And keep up the good work, I really like the reviews of odd/unknown movies

Hey, James. Hopefully you’re still reading this. I got the Philadelphia episode of Insomniac for you right here man!http://www.mediafire.com/download/ssfqus5v8fhqpao/Philly+-+Insomniac.wmv
Hopefully it won’t get taken down for infringement or anything.
(Note to mod: I posted this in another comment but the link was wrong, please approve this one and not the other if you will).